


Thicker Than Water

by Snow



Category: Firefly
Genre: Family, Female Character of Color, Gen, Post-Canon, imaginary backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-29
Updated: 2010-03-29
Packaged: 2017-10-08 09:59:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/75505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snow/pseuds/Snow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zoe's brother isn't important: she turned her back on him a long time ago.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thicker Than Water

"Simon!" River shouted at her brother. "I have awful fashion sense."

Zoe glanced at Simon. She hadn't heard the beginning of the conversation, so for all she knew there was a perfectly logical explanation for why River was saying what she had. Simon's face wasn't giving any hints past the self-conscious glance he'd shot at her when she'd stepped into the kitchen.

Zoe grinned and continued to the bridge.

"Knew there was a reason they got quiet all of a sudden," Mal said when she stepped in.

Zoe raised an eyebrow at him. "Eavesdropping?" she asked.

Mal shrugged, and Zoe could see that he was thinking about how the Tams looked after each other again. Mal, for reasons Zoe would never understand, _could_ never understand, seemed to idealize sibling relationships. It was reflected in every relationship he tried to build, most obviously with Kaylee, but even in the way he tried so carefully to treat Inara like an older sister.

"River and Simon got lucky," Zoe said, "With each other."

"They put effort into it," Mal replied. "Not the same thing."

Zoe shrugged. "You can put all the effort you want into a relationship, but sometimes the other person just isn't worth it. The magic of siblings is that you don't get any say in who that other person is."

"There something you're trying to tell me?" Mal asked.

"No," Zoe said, and she knew he thought she might be pregnant, but she _wasn't_. Her memories of Wash weren't just hers, she had to share him. But the crew of the Serenity didn't know about the rest of her family, and there wasn't any reason they should.

Mal would disagree, but honestly, Zoe didn't think the fact that the third of the Alliance signatures on the new arrest warrant for Simon was James Alleyne made a difference.

**Author's Note:**

> Alleyne being Zoe's maiden name.
> 
> I welcome and appreciate all kinds of comments, though I would (obviously) prefer if any criticism was constructive. :)


End file.
